Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide Members with a brief update on meetings held this past week in Ottawa.
On Friday, February 24th, I had a lengthy and productive meeting with the Honourable Jim Prentice to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the Northwest Territories. As the new Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and as the Minister responsible for the Mackenzie gas project, Minister Prentice will be a key player in our efforts to resolve several important issues for the Northwest Territories over the next two years.
With regard to the Mackenzie gas project, we specifically discussed the need to move forward with legislation to implement the $500 million socio-economic impact fund. I emphasized our support for this initiative among the federal, aboriginal and territorial governments, and explained its importance in addressing the socio-economic impacts for those aboriginal communities along the pipeline route. While Mr. Prentice did not provide specific commitments, I was pleased with his understanding of the importance of the fund and am optimistic he will address this matter in the short term.
We also had an opportunity to discuss devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations. I explained our position on the outstanding issues, including the most critical issue holding up these negotiations: an agreement on fair sharing of the resource revenues. I said we were encouraged by the commitment expressed by both the Prime Minister and Minister Prentice during the election campaign to ensure northerners were the primary beneficiaries of northern development. This important commitment is reason for real optimism that working with the new government will lead to successful agreements that have eluded us in the past.
Minister Prentice and I agreed to work cooperatively towards resolution of these negotiations. With respect to an agreement on resource revenue sharing, these discussions will also include the new federal Minister of Finance, the Honourable Jim Flaherty. Mr. Roland will be seeking a meeting in the near future with Mr. Flaherty to discuss these and other important fiscal issues facing our government.
We discussed two national agreements that will impact greatly on many residents in the Northwest Territories. I first expressed our continued support for the principals of the Kelowna First Ministers' Agreement to close the gap between the social and economic conditions for aboriginal Canadians and other Canadians.
We are committed to working with the national government to find ways to implement the commitments made to aboriginal Canadians in the Kelowna Accord. I reiterated our support for the agreement reached to compensate residential school survivors and hope that the new federal government will implement this agreement as soon as possible.
Mr. Speaker, the initial meeting with Minister Prentice allowed for a productive exchange of views on critical issues facing the territory. This knowledge of the key issues facing the Northwest Territories and his willingness to work cooperatively to address these issues are reasons for optimism.
On Friday evening, the Premiers of all provinces and territories were invited to an informal dinner meeting with Prime Minister Harper. At this meeting, we discussed key national issues, including a fiscal imbalance, post-secondary education funding and national childcare agreements.
On Saturday morning, the three territorial Premiers met with Prime Minister Harper to discuss key territorial issues. It was a cordial and productive meeting. I raised the Mackenzie gas project and devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister made clear his understanding of the importance of the Mackenzie gas project not only to the Northwest Territories, but to the country as a whole. With respect to resource revenue sharing, the Prime Minister again stated his view that northerners must be the primary beneficiaries of northern resources and his commitment to work cooperatively to resolve this issue.
Mr. Speaker, these meetings were an initial opportunity to meet with both the Prime Minister and Minister Prentice to discuss key issues for the Northwest Territories. While they were not forums to negotiate or to resolve issues, I was pleased to have this early opportunity to meet and exchange views. I was encouraged by the meeting and impressed with the knowledge and understanding of the key challenges and opportunities facing the Northwest Territories. We welcome the commitment of the Prime Minister and Minister Prentice to work together to move forward on our key priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause